THE GAME
- Hednesford Town v Whitby Town
- Saturday 7th February 2026, kick off 3pm
- Northern Premier League Premier Division
- Keys Park Stadium, Keys Park Road, Hednesford, Staffordshire WS12 2D2
THE PITMEN
Following the 1-1 draw at Gainsborough Trinity The Pitmen remained in second place in the NPL table with 52 points from 27 games. Hebburn retained top spot despite their game against Stocksbridge Park Steels being postponed but are only above Hednesford due to a better goal difference of three goals although they have played a game less. FC United are third with 48 points from 27 games while Warrington Rylands and Stockton fill the remaining play-off places. Ahkeem Rose’s goal from the penalty spot last Saturday was his 16th of the season in all competitions and he is followed by Dom McHale on seven and Montel Gibson on six. Elliott Johnson played the full 90 minutes at Gainsborough in place of the injured Ollie Harrison.
THE OPPOSITION
Whitby are in 16th place in the NPL table, four points above the relegation zone with 31 points from 25 games. 17 of those points have been picked up at home including a 2-1 win against Hednesford back in October. Their 14 points on the road have come from four wins, two draws and six defeats, those losses coming at FCUM (1-3), Hyde United (2-5), Gainsborough Trinity (0-1), Stocksbridge Park Steels (1-4), Prescot Cables (1-2) and Hebburn (1-3). Their leading scorers are Donald Chimalilo who has five league goals and one in the FA Cup while Matty Tymon has five league goals and former Stafford Rangers man Jake Charles has four.
THE GAFFER
Manager Gavin Hurren had this to say ahead of the game: “Whitby will be a tough test. They’ve not played since 20th January due to postponements so they’ll come here fresh and ready to go. We’ve prepared well and our aim is to put in a strong performance and push for all three points”.
FORM
From their last six games Hednesford have nine points and a GD of +1 while Whitby have five points and a GD of -3.
- HTFC: DWWLDD
- LTFC: LLWDLD
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
Between 2006/07 and 2017/18 Hednesford and Whitby have met seven times in NPL action at Keys Park with Hednesford winning three, Whitby just once and three draws.
- 2006/07 : HTFC 3-0 WTFC Jamie, March, Phil Hadland, Dean Oliver Att:720
- 2007/08 : HTFC 0-0 WTFC Att: 363
- 2008/09 : HTFC 1-3 WTFC Tom Marshall Att: 434
- 2011/12 : HTFC 3-1 WTFC Ben Jevons, Ben Bailey, Mark Danks Att: 491
- 2012/13 : HTFC 4-0 WTFC White (OG), Michael Lennon, Neil Harvey 2 Att: 504
- 2016/17 : HTFC 1-1 WTFC Joel Logan Att: 387
- 2017/18 : HTFC 0-0 WTFC Att: 393
MATCHDAY DETAILS
Kick off is at the usual Saturday time of 3pm with turnstiles 3A and 3B and the ticket office open at 12pm for anyone with advance tickets who wants to watch the Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur game at 12.30pm in the Chase Suite, although the rest of the ground won’t open until 1pm.
There will be parking available at the Sunflex site at a cost of £5, first come first served with all proceeds going to charity.
Why not have a look at the new fanzone area situated between the Wimblebury Terrace and Heath Hayes End. A burger fan and Papa John’s Pizzas will be there along with the self-serve BoltBar. There are now four newly installed port-a-loos in the area as well. Also the BoltBar near to the club shop now offers Kronenbourg 0% as an alternative. Anyone using the app on Saturday will be entered into a draw to win £25 credit.
Match sponsors are RG8 Security.
Admission will be £13 adults, £10 concessions/17-18 and disabled (non-wheelchair access), £5 U16 and free for U10s but all U16s if not season ticket holders or Junior Pitmen Members must be accompanied by a paying adult and should be under their supervision at all times.
The multi-award winning matchday programme will be on sale, cash payments to the programme sellers or by card from the club shop and will take a closer look at The Pitmen’s 4-0 win over Whitby in the 2012/13 season.
Before kick off there will be a minutes applause in memory of Ian Cooper who managed Hednesford Town from 1974 to 1977. His wife Jean and other family members will be guests at the game.
